Roughly 28 million Americans -- one in every ten -- have taken Prozac, Zoloft, or Paxil or a similar antidepressant, yet very few patients are aware of the dangers of these drugs, nor are they aware that better, safer alternatives exist. Now Harvard Medical School's Dr. Joseph Glenmullen documents the ominous long-term side effects associated with these and other serotonin-boosting medications. These side effects include neurological disorders, such as disfiguring facial and whole-body tics that can indicate brain damage; sexual dysfunction in up to 60 percent of users; debilitating withdrawal symptoms, including visual hallucinations, electric shock-like sensations in the brain, dizziness, nausea, and anxiety; and a decrease of antidepressant effectiveness in about 35 percent of long-term users. In addition, Dr. Glenmullen's research and riveting case studies shed shocking new light on the direct link between these drugs and suicide and violence.

Written by a doctor with impeccable credentials, "Prozac Backlash" is filled with compelling, sometimes heartrending stories and is thoroughly documented with extensive scientific sources. It is both provocative and hopeful, a sound, reliable guide to the safe treatment of depression and other psychiatric problems.

Sherwin B. Nuland, M.D. Yale School of Medicine, author of How We Die and The Mysteries Within The much-needed corrective to the sensationalism of the false prophets of Prozac and the zealots of Zoloft...This is the book that sets the record straight. Janet Maslin The New York Times An important, deeply troubling examination of the means by which these drugs have become so widely disseminated, and the possible long-term toll they may take...As readable as it is alarming.